A Watchman For Israel

A Watchman For Israel

Being God’s representative is an awesome responsibility.

WHEN EZEKIEL was thirty years old, God gave him a vision, calling him to be a prophet. At the time he was an exile living in Tel Abib (Hebrew spelling Tel Aviv), Babylon, during the Babylonian captivity. For seven days after receiving the vision, Ezekiel just sat among his fellow Jews, overwhelmed at what God had revealed to him (Ezekiel 1:1–3:15).

Throughout the Old Testament when God called someone to be a prophet, typically that individual was disturbed by the prospect of his new role. Ezekiel was no exception. During those seven days he was in bitterness and turmoil as he considered the prospect that his mission in life would be to deliver an unpopular message to an unreceptive audience. It was hardly a role he would have chosen for himself. Yet in spite of his understandable trepidation, the Lord’s hold on him remained strong.

The fact that Ezekiel sat for seven days considering his vision and what lay before him is significant because he was a priest (1:3) and a priest entered his priestly ministry at the age of thirty (Numbers 4:3) through a seven-day consecration (Leviticus 8:33). Since Ezekiel was thirty (Ezekiel 1:1), this served as his seven-day consecration (3:15) as both a priest and a prophet.

At the end of the seven days, on August 8, 593 B.C., the Lord gave Ezekiel a message of what his specific role was to be. Ezekiel was to be “a watchman for Israel.” In Old Testament times the watchmen would stand as sentries on the wall of a city, looking for any threat to the city from without or from within. If a watchman saw an invading army on the horizon or any danger within the city such as a fire or a riot, his role was to sound the alarm to warn the people. God said to Ezekiel,

Son of man, I have appointed you as a watchman for Israel. Whenever you receive a message from me, pass it on to the people immediately. If I warn the wicked, saying, “You are under the penalty of death,” but you fail to deliver the warning, they will die in their sins. And I will hold you responsible, demanding your blood for theirs. If you warn them and they keep on sinning and refuse to repent, they will die in their sins. But you will have saved your life because you did what you were told to do. If good people turn bad and don’t listen to my warning, they will die. If you did not warn them of the consequences, then they will die in their sins. Their previous good deeds won’t help them, and I will hold you responsible, demanding your blood for theirs. But if you warn them and they repent, they will live, and you will have saved your own life, too. (Ezekiel 3:17-21)

Reflection

Ezekiel was given the awesome responsibility to be a watchman for Israel. Do you feel that God’s charge to Ezekiel has any application to you? What would it mean to you to be a watchman? Our message is the news of salvation that is available through trusting Jesus, God’s Son. Do you feel a responsibility to share that message with those around you?

If the watchman sees the enemy coming and doesn’t sound the alarm to warn the people, he is responsible for their deaths. They will die in their sins, but I will hold the watchman accountable.

Ezekiel 33:6